To ask if baths are hygienic?!

[imundecided]

I very much enjoy a nice bath in the evenings. Some days I'll shower, some days I'll have a bath depending on my mood.

I just saw something while browsing on Facebook on how baths are disgusting as your just bathing in your own filth, followed by many people commenting on how your supposed to shower after having a bath to clean yourself. I obviously wash myself with shower gel while in the bath but this made me think.... are baths hygienic?! Am I a filthy pig for bathing without showering after???

I have a very quick shower after a bath to properly rinse my hair.

I haven't had a bath for seven years though and not likely to as we don't have one any more! I don't find them enjoyable.

Fine with baths but always wash my hair as soon as I get in and rinse with shower hose. Watched people at my gym pool today getting in the jacuzzi- now that’s revolting, a giant petri dish!!!

Well if you can eat off a plate hand washed in the sink with detergent, you won't die from a bath with soap

They must be terribly dirty fuckers to be laying in their own filth.

i always feel a bit hot and not totally clean after a bath so I do ave a quick shower after

Well think about it logically, that lasagne dish with the baked on sauce, you don't just run it under a tap - you might however put it in to soak. Similarly, if you watch a lot of true crime, bodies that have been dumped (and soaked) in waterways are much less likely to retain DNA evidence from the perpetrator that a body that has been hosed down and they seem not to do rape test kits on victims who have bathed whilst they tend to try on victims who shower.

Scientifically, water alone doesnt 'clean', and soap works by enabling germs etc to slide off. In a bath, the body is submerged in detergent (especially if bubbles used) whereas a shower relies on the user coating the entire body. It seems likely on that basis that a bath actually ends up leaving the user cleaner for many than a shower would.

I take a pressure hose to DP after he's had a bath then spritz him all over with Dettol. He thinks this is a bit excessive but I say if he wasn't such a filthy cockmonger I wouldn't have to.

I feel much cleaner after a bath than a shower. If I've got dirty feet (walking in sandals in summer) I'll give them a prewash.

Fgs of course baths are fine.

I'm not lying in my own filth as I'm not filthy, and if I am, then surely my bed is filthy, along with my sofa and everything else I touch.

The only way a bath might be unhygienic would be if you were literally caked in shit before you got in, otherwise you're good.

That's a very good idea Barearse

I always like to set the bathroom on fire after a filthy bath just to kill any residual germs!

What is the actual point here. Are people really going to hear something like this and be dumb enough to just follow it?

Do you enjoy a bath? Yes
Does it make you sick? No

Step away from the social media and use your own brain.

It'd all in the rinsing. To remove all traces of soap, mainly, but also dirt.
I don't get people who don't rinse. After a shower or the dishes.
Your skin will be in contact with soap all day. Just rinse.

If you have a bath everyday how can you accumulate so much filth by the next day? Are our bodies that germ ridden? I don't think so. I feel so much more cleaner after a bath than a shower.

Yes I stand up and shower

There are some real germophobes on here

In a lot of the world you get properly clean, exfoliate, flannels, bucket of water/shower before you get in the bath for a good relaxing soak. Japanese Onsens are s good example. It’s poor form to ge5 in without being really clean first, including in your own home.

I have a bath at the weekend and usually shower afterwards but only because

1. I don't have a shower head over the bath and like to rinse my hair
2. I shave my legs and pits in the bath and exfoliate, so even though we have soft water there's a bit of a soap/hair/shaving cream head on the water
3. I stay in the bath for so long the water goes cold so I turn the shower on hot to warm up.

The bath I had last night was certainly filthy. I planned a lovely Radox soak. DD joined me, then DS who promptly weed in it

@Happyspud haha ffs there's always one! This is a lighthearted post, it's not as if I'm going to stop having baths after seeing that post online I just put it on here to see what other people think about it which is what Mumsnet is for

We only have a bath so I keep some lemon Cif, a bottle of bleach and a brillo pad next to the tub to make sure I'm clean when I have finished bathing.

When the bath has emptied, I rinse it thoroughly before getting a blowtorch and going over every inch in case I've left any fragments of my filth on the tub.

Of course when DH takes to the tub, being a filthier person than I, stronger measures are needed so I add hydrochloric acid to the bath water and set off a small thermonuclear device when he's finished. We both glow in the dark but it's a small price to pay for good hygiene and cuts down on our lighting bills.

You probably need to get off facebook if you read that and actually wondered if baths were unhygienic and likely to cause infection or disease, which is what unhygienic means.

I have very sensitive skin. if I don't rinse/shower off after a bath my skin gets unbearably painful eczema.

I guess it depends in how filthy you are before you get in and how nice your bath is. I love my bath - it is huge, deep and very luxurious and I always feel very pampered afterwards. I had had baths in previous houses that have been little which were not as nice so I can see where people are coming from.

@Lweji - you're right. Even after a bath, I'll rinse off with a jug of clean water. It's more than enough, rinse out flannel and wipe down then dry off with a towel. Saves a hugely wet towel too.

The art of not being filthy is all in the rinse. For humans and for dishes.

You probably need to get off facebook if you read that and actually wondered if baths were unhygienic and likely to cause infection or disease, which is what unhygienic means.

Exactly. Given that most people don't drink their bathwater, you're probably fine. In fairness you'd probably be fine even if you did, provided you hadn't actually pooped in it.